A Dead Man Tells Tales
by Chaldera
Summary: A chance encounter with a smuggler is just the beginning to something greater
1. Chapter 1

**Captain's Log, Stardate 48015.2. The ****_Enterprise_**** has been assigned to an exploratory mission of Sector 23659. A largely explored and well-known, if empty region, after all the hassle in recent months, it should be something of a relaxing break.**

"Sir, sensors are detecting an unidentified vessel," Worf's voice carried across the bridge, his deep baritone drowning out the usual beeps of starship computers. "It appears to be on an intercept course."

Captain Picard looked up at Worf from his seat on the bridge. "Do they appear to be hostile?" "Negative, sir."

Picard stood up from his chair and stepped forward. "Thank you, Mr. Worf. Mr. Data, put the ship on main viewer."

Lt. Cmdr. Data keyed in the appropriate command, and the viewscreen changed from a generic picture of space to an image of the unidentified vessel. Evidently adrift in space, it seemed to be a non-symmetrical design consisting of a circle with two triangles and a cockpit module connected to the closest side of the ship.

Picard ordered "Hail them." The conn beeped, and then Picard spoke, "This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation vessel USS Enterprise. Identify yourself." There was silence for several seconds. "Anything?" Data responded "No, sir."

Picard's curiosity was evident in both his facial expression and his voice. "Mr. Data, do you detect any lifeforms?"

As usual, Data's voice was lacking in emotion as he reported "Uncertain, sir. Sensors appear unable to detect the interior with any degree of accuracy. All that can be confirmed is that the internal atmosphere reads oxygen-nitrogen of a similar concentration and pressure to that of Earth."

Picard straightened his uniform as he spoke "Does the ship match to any design in your databanks, Commander?" "Negative, sir. The specifications are unique, and do not match records for any known vessels."

Cmdr. Riker walked over to Picard. They shared a glance, then Riker pointed toward several blackened portions of the ship. "What do sensors say about those marks, Mr. Worf? Could they be from weapons fire?"

Worf looked down at his display. "They appear to be scorch marks from a highly-powered plasma weapon of unknown configuration, sir."

Riker nodded to Worf, then looked to Picard. "Plasma...could have been a Breen ship, sir. We are close to their border, and they have been known to conduct pirate attacks."

Picard nodded and grunted in agreement, then turned to Counsellor Troi. "Can you sense anything, Counsellor?"

Troi shook her head. "No sir. If there is anyone there, they must be somehow blocked to me."

Picard bit the inside of his cheek. He turned back toward the main viewer, and watched the ship drift in space. "Options?"

Data turned his chair toward the captain. "Sir, I believe that if we reroute auxiliary power to the main sensor array, we may be able to achieve enough of a target lock in order to transport an away team over."

Picard mulled this over in his mind. "Very well. Number One, prepare an away team. And make sure to be careful; we don't want our first contact with a new species to be a disaster."

"Aye, Captain," Riker said, and gestured toward each person in turn as he spoke, "Worf, Data, you're with me. Tell Geordi to join us at Transporter Room 2."


	2. Chapter 2

Riker, Worf, Data and Geordi materialised within an unkempt-looking lounge area in a shower of light. Data and Geordi immediately drew their tricorders and began scanning the area, whilst Worf and Riker explored their immediate surroundings.

"Tricorders are unable to detect any lifesigns, Commander," Lt. Cmdr. Geordi said, his VISOR reflecting the low-level light. "However, according to these readings, their bridge appears to be this way." He pointed down a corridor.

Riker looked to Geordi, then at the corridor and spoke. "Alright, Geordi. Go check it out. But remember, be careful. We don't know what could be down there." Geordi set off down the passage as Riker turned to see Data crouched at a table, reaching underneath with an expression of concentration on his face.

"Are you alright, Mr. Data?"

Data didn't turn as he answered "Yes sir. The tricorder detected an energy signature emanating from this table. I am trying to determine what the source of this energy signature could-" The table illuminated and several small translucent creatures appeared on its surface. "-be... Intriguing."

Flipping open his tricorder, Data looked down and reported the results of his scan. "This appears to be a holoimaging table. Using tactile holograms, one is able to play a game similar to chess."

"So whoever they were, they had holographic technology. I wonder what else we'll find on this rust bucket." Riker mused. Data looked confused, and asked "Rust bucket, sir?" Riker smiled and explained "It's an old Earth term." Data merely replied with "Ah." and continued his exploration of the lounge.

"Commander!" echoed Geordi's voice through the corridor. Riker called back "What is it, Geordi?" "I think you're gonna want to see this." Riker looked to Worf and nodded him to follow, then walked toward the cockpit, finding Geordi in a seperate corridor a little further down.

Geordi turned his head to them as they came, tricorder in hand. "Commander, this section of the floor reads as hollow, but the tricorder detects something underneath it. Sir... I think there's something underneath this floor pannel." Riker looked at Geordi, then to Worf. "Open it."

Worf nodded, and crouched down to lift the panel. Riker drew his hand phaser, in case anything nasty appeared, and they watched as Worf managed to completely pry the panel away with one mighty growl. A cloud of dust billowed out, blinding them for a second, and it was there that they found the ship's occupants. Two skeletons, one humanoid dressed in a black jacket, white top and brown trousers; and the other, humanoid with large canines, dressed solely in a bandolier.


	3. Chapter 3

Picard looked incredulous. "They aren't from our galaxy?"

The command crew were sat in the conference room. Data was stood by a screen in the far-right corner. So far, all the screen showed was the Federation symbol.

"Affirmative, sir. According to our analysis of their computers, that ship, a freighter named the _Millenium Falcon_, originated from a time and galaxy far-removed from our own. However, we have as yet been unable to locate which galaxy they may have originated from."

Riker piped up with "Wait. Did you say _time_ too?"

"Yes sir. Based on comparisons of the configuration of their galaxy compared to our own, I would estimate that they are approximately one billion years out of time."

Picard straightened up in his chair and looked to Geordi. "Mr. La Forge, what were you able to find out about their systems?"

"Honestly Captain, I don't know where to begin. Despite outdated appearances, that ship is extremely advanced."

Picard frowned. "Explain."

Geordi straightened his VISOR. "Well, their weapons systems could punch a hole through a shuttlecraft's shields. They have a life support system on par with our own, and their power generator is extremely efficient despite some faults in their conduits. But their propulsion systems are incredible!" Geordi, realising he exclaimed this, added "Uh...sorry Captain."

"It's quite alright, Mr. La Forge," Picard smiled "But I'd prefer it if you finished your report with a little less...excitement."

"Yes sir," Geordi nodded, then continued "At impulse speed, that ship could likely run rings around the _Enterprise_. But it's their hyperdrive that's really impressive-"

"Hyperdrive?" Worf interrupted, his eyes distrusting. Geordi explained "It's what they call their version of a warp drive. Somehow, they seem able to use gamma radiation to create ripples of space-time, which they then use to reach super-luminal speeds."

Dr. Crusher interpreted "Like a leaf on a pond. They drop a stone in, and the ripples carry the leaf away."

"Exactly," Geordi replied "And if I understand correctly, this hyperdrive allows them to travel much faster than any conventional warp drive. Theoretically, at full power a hyperdrive can take a ship to a point 120,000 light years away in only a matter of hours. If we can incorporate that into the fleet, a lot of the Federation's problems would be solved in almost no time at all."

Picard responded "And likely initiate a new conflict with most of our galactic neighbours. Starfleet able to send a fleet of starships to any point in the galaxy in less than a day? I suspect the Romulans would have something to say about that," he looked at Geordi "Good work, Commander."

Picard then directed his attention toward Beverley. "Dr. Crusher, what did your post-mortem discover?" Beverley clasped her hands together, and leant forward in her seat as she spoke "Well, you won't believe this, Captain. Whilst I couldn't identify the species of the larger skeleton, the smaller one appears to be human."

Riker raised his eyebrow "Human? Are you suggesting that he pirated the ship from its' original pilot?"

"No, Will," Beverley responded, her speech slow as she related her report "He was definitely the original pilot, along with his larger friend. I performed a chronitonic tissue analysis just to be sure. He and his friend are over one billion years old by our count, and they both originally came from...wherever that ship is from."

Picard leant back in his chair and straightened his uniform. Riker stroked his beard thoughtfully, his brow heavy with confusion. Geordi's eyebrows were raised. Only Worf, Troi and Data showed little in the way of their reaction. Finally, Worf asked "What did they die of, Doctor?"

Beverley leaned back in her chair again "Starvation, most likely. Judging by blood found on the floor of that compartment, they had been beating against that panel, trying to get out," she half-smiled "It's ironic, really...travelling all this way, just to be beaten out by a defective floor panel."

Picard nodded, and finally turned his attention to Worf. "Mr. Worf, what did you discover from the ship's logs?"

Worf answered "Very little, sir. From what I could find, the captain was called Han, and his friend...Chewbarka. They were part of an organisation calling itself the Rebellion, who were in opposition to another organisation named the Empire. They were also self-described smugglers, which I later confirmed after searching their ship."

"What did you find?" Riker asked.

"I found several containers marked in an unknown language, which we eventually translated as 'Spice'. It appears to be a highly addictive psychotropic drug. We also discovered," Worf lifted a pad at this, and spoke as he read "A handheld plasma weapon, similar in shape to an old-Earth revolver; a second handheld plasma weapon, similar in shape to an old-Earth crossbow; several extremely unstable, magnetic hand-grenades; several military uniforms, unknown affiliation, including a white suit of armour made from an unknown plastic-metal alloy; and a small messaging beacon, apparently inactive."

Riker questioned "Were you able to find out how they got here?"

Data responded "I think I may be able to answer that, sir." Data turned to the screen and pressed the keypad. The display changed from the UFP crest to a swirling blue vortex. "According to their sensor logs, their ship passed through an area of space unusually prevalent with miniature black holes whilst escaping an Imperial ship. They then attempted to initiate hyperdrive, but were unsuccessful as they were pulled into a wormhole which formed directly beneath them."

Data pressed a key, and the display changed to a graphic showing a plain 12x12 grid with a dot in the center. "Normally, when their hyperdrive system is activated, space-time is distorted to produce a wave effect." The grid rippled in a circular pattern away from the dot. "However, this system is apparently meant to operate within an area of space with few space-time distortions. Due to the extreme gravitational stress placed on their last location," the graphic changed to show a constantly-rippling grid with a dot in the center, "I hypothesise that the added distortion effect of their hyperdrive resulted in an enlargement of the quantum foam, creating a singularity which lead to our universe."

Troi brushed some hair out of her eyes. "Quantum foam, Data?"

Data responded "A theoretical concept in quantum mechanics. The quantum foam is the foundation of space, where energy decays into particles and antiparticles. The resulting collisions allow miniature wormholes to rapidly form and decay. As of yet, there has been little evidence for the existence of the quantum foam. However, it is the only explanation that fits the sensor logs."

Picard nodded again. "Thank you, Commander. Now, I have informed Starfleet of the situation, and they have ordered us to deliver the..._Millennium Falcon_...to Starbase 434. There, it will be carefully studied by the finest minds the Federation can provide. Therefore, I want you all at your posts, and if you feel the need to study the derelict further, you have 23 hours. After that, it's off our hands. And remember," he looked around at his command crew, and smiled again "She's an antique. So take good care of her. Dismissed."

Meanwhile, in a science lab on the _Enterprise_, a light activated on the circular beacon, and it sent a message through a wormhole to a galaxy far, far away...


End file.
